Declaimer: I do not own any recognizable harry potter character, they all belong to J.K Rowling
Author's notes: thank you slenderpanda597 for my first review
"Minerva McGonagall!"
Her mother had told her all about the sorting ceremony in her diary so she was more prepared than most first-years. Even knowing what would happen, she was still a bit nervous at the prospect of a wizard's hat being able to see into her thoughts, but she was never one to argue with hundreds of years of tradition.
Making her way to the stool, she took a deep breath and waited as the Deputy Headmaster placed the tattered garment on her head. Her gaze caught the professors whose twinkling eyes were watching her from above his half moon spectacles as he placed the hat on her head. She had stopped breathing for a second when she had first caught his eyes upon entering the room. Despite knowing he would be teaching her, it had been hard for her not to appreciate him as a person. Tall thin with long auburn hair and beard which was equally long, he looked like someone who would take others worries with just one look from those deep blue twinkling eyes and a smile. She greatly anticipated seeing him teach and felt quite sure he would be great at whatever he taught. It was just the aura he gave off. She felt her cheeks warm with his gaze steadily watching her though she could not comprehend why; she had never felt shy with anyone else before. Her thoughts were snapped back to the here and now by a voice inside her head.
Well, well, well. I see that I have a McGonagall in my presence. I remember sorting your mother. Let's see…Athena was in Ravenclaw. Noble house and worthy of honor but will you fit in there? Now we must choose the correct house for you. If you are ready, I will proceed. Minerva shifted a bit in the seat as the wise magical object continued.
I see you have a desire for learning, oh yes. You have read many, many books, most of which were above the recommended reading level for those entering Hogwarts. Very impressive for such a young age. And what's this I see…a sharp wit to add to that. I sense that you would be able to hold your ground in any situation, given your vast command of the language. You would make an excellent addition to Ravenclaw and your mother would be so pleased. But there is more to life than a sharp wit and a love of knowledge.
Here in your mind, I can see that you are one of the bravest at heart, regardless of your age and experiences in life. You possess an inner strength and a desire to right the wrongs of the world. Those qualities combined would earn you an honored position in Gryffindor. You have never been afraid to speak your mind and the thought of danger does not frighten you as it does most children. You have made your mother proud. But back to your house…such a difficult decision. Let me ponder a moment longer.
The seconds slowly marched by and Minerva could do nothing but wait. She could feel the eyes of every single person on her and it made her uncomfortable to be the center of attention. The quiet humming from the hat did nothing to calm her nerves and the butterflies in her stomach were going mad. After what seemed an eternity, the hat asked a question of her that others might have to think about but she did not hesitate in her answer.
Tell me, Miss McGonagall, which would give you more pleasure: having an adventure in life or reading about the adventures of others in a book? Silently, she answered the Sorting Hat without any reservations.
"I would rather have my own adventures and then when I am older, I might write them down for others to read. Does that answer your question?"
Indeed, indeed. I believe you will be a perfect fit in the house of "Gryffindor!"
Minerva sat motionless, unsure if the hat had told the entire school of it's' decision or simply her. Upon realizing that a group of students at one of the long tables had started clapping, she jumped from the stool and made her way to join her classmates. It wasn't until later in the evening that she discovered that her Head of House was none other than Professor Dumbledore, the deputy head master who had smiled so kindly at her during the sorting ceremony.
The girls had been given a dormitory of four people each. The other girls with her were Poppy Pomfrey a pretty red head who seemed to care for anyone and everyone, Ronalda Hooch who could not stop talking about everything under the sun although her favorite topic seemed to be Quidich and another golden haired beauty Sally Grandwilight who seemed too homesick to think of anything at present. Minerva surveyed them critically and decided she liked all of them even the hair brained Sally. She smiled at Ronalda thinking they would get along rather well as she like her loved Quidich. The other girls seemed to have been doing the same thing. They laughed when their eyes caught each other and the environment of the room became even more homely. Bidding each other goodnight they fell onto their new beds for their first night in the castle that would grow to become their home.
Always an early riser, Minerva had been the first to be awake the next morning followed by Poppy. Sally had woken up much later though in time to get ready and head to breakfast without getting late their first day. Ronalda though, was another story altogether. Minerva and Poppy had been ready for quite some time, going through their time tables when they had noticed that Ronalda was not up even then. They hurried back to their dormitory to find the girl in deep sleep. The two girls looked at each other and smiled. Shaking her head Minerva bent over the sleeping girl and shook her shoulder gently."Get up Ronalda, its already late!" she exclaimed when Ronalda did not even give any sign that she had heard her. Well, no other option thought Minerva, smiling she pointed her wand at the bed and whispered augmenti! At once a jet of water escaped and hit the sleeping girl who sat up sputtering. She smiled cheekily and looked at Poppy who she found was gaping at her with her mouth wide open."What is it Poppy? Have I grown wings that I do not notice?" she asked rather awkward with being stared at."No...It's just…well…it's a spell much higher our level and we haven't even started classes" stammered the faltered girl. "Oh well its nothing, I got it off a book, thought I'd try it. Shall we get Ro ready?" she added in an attempt to get the flashlight off herself. Thankfully she succeeded her antiques were forgotten in a hurry as they helped Ronalda get ready for breakfast before they had to be punished the first day at school.
As they hurriedly made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast, she was so preoccupied that she failed to notice the tall, auburn haired man rounding the corner until it was too late. Crashing into her Head of House, Minerva's cheeks flushed as she looked at her quivering friends. She quickly offered an apology and an explanation. "Professor Dumbledore! I am so very sorry. We were in a rush to get to breakfast and I was attempting to memorize my schedule of classes for today. I wasn't looking where I was going and…" Holding up a hand to silence the flustered girl, Minerva noticed a curling of his mouth into a smile. She did not expect him to yell at her, as she felt some of the other professors might have done judging by his earlier jovial approach, but she didn't anticipate him making a joke from it either."Miss McGonagall, it was an accident and I wish all of our students were as eager to jump into their studies. I am sure you all will have a wonderful year and I look forward to seeing all of you in class later this morning. I trust you will also embrace your extracurricular activities with the same enthusiasm as you do your classes", he said his eyes twinkling at Minerva and Ronalda. "Now, would you care to walk with me to the Great Hall for breakfast?"
Surveying him momentarily, she had a hard time finding her voice. All sorts of feelings were running through her mind and her knees seemed to have gone weak. She had been excited, nervous, flustered, and embarrassed all at the same time and she was sure that he would notice the pink hue in her cheeks. Poppy saved her the embarrassment and replied "We would love to Sir". Taking a deep steadying breath she relaxed her face and produced a broad smile. After testing her voice slightly, she accompanied him and her friends to breakfast. When they reached the students door, they turned to their head of house who was smiling down at them. Minerva found that she had lost her voice yet again. Poppy spoke for them once again "Thank you Sir." Nodding at the three of them, he bestowed a last smile at them before heading to the teacher's entry. They looked after him for a moment before staring at each other. Then shaking their heads in unison made their way to the Great Hall.
Their first day at the castle was going eventful. After their accidental collision with their head of house the trio had made their way to breakfast then grabbing a quick breakfast as they were late thanks to Ronalda. Then they had made their way to the dungeons for their first class-potions. The teacher had been infuriating to say the least. He had welcomed the students cordially and then had set them to do a potion to test their skills at it. Minerva had found to her gratification that she was not at all bad at it though it had been her worst fear. She had indeed rather narrowly beaten a Ravenclaw student Jeff Connors at making the best potion. The boy had thrown her a look of deep loathing. This had disturbed her for quite some time until she had noticed her teacher throwing appreciative yet calculating looks at her. It had given her a creepy feeling as though a rather large spider was eying a juicy fly and wondering whether to go after it or not. Their next class had been eventful one. Charms were taught by a very tiny and very jolly professor, professor Filtwick. Professor Filtwick had welcomed all of them to his class and had taught them how to make objects fly. Minerva, Jeff, Poppy, Ronalda and another boy Terry Boots again from Ravenclaw had been able to make their feathers fly. The tiny professor Filtwick had been very glad and had awarded all of them ten house points each. Then they had had their defense against dark arts class. The first class had been given to driving it to the head of the students as to how important it was and why.
Despite giving the other classes their full attention, Minerva had been waiting with bated breath for the class before lunch, transfiguration; her favorite subject after having read all their course books. She, Poppy and Ro, short for Ronalda had soon become inseparable. After a lot of coaxing on Minerva's part they found themselves seated at the very front of the class waiting for their transfiguration professor to make his appearance. Minerva looked towards the door many times eager to find out who their transfiguration Professor was. Suddenly the door opened and in walked their head of house and deputy head master Professor Dumbledore. Minerva's jaw almost dropped to the floor. It seemed she had found another reason to love transfiguration. "Let me introduce myself", he said "Albus Perceivial Wolfric Brian Dumbledore, transfiguration professor, head of Gryffindor house and deputy headmaster of Hogwarts." He had walked the length of the class while talking and now looked down at Minerva with a raised eyebrow and a smile. Too late she realized she had been gaping at her professor. Turning a deep shade of red she averted her gaze and looked down at her papers heartily wishing she had chosen a desk towards the end of the classroom.
Her discomfort did not last long though. As soon as professor Dumbledore started teaching everyone in the class had eyes and ears only for him. He started class by going around the room and changing various inanimate objects into other things, some moveable, some motionless. After their curiosities were peaked, he began to explain the rudimentary skills necessary in performing such feats of magic. Then he had given each of them a few toothpicks and told them to try to turn it into needles. All of them had set to work diligently. After quite some time Jeff had raised his hand to tell the professor that he had done it, his toothpick had turned all silvery and pointed. Professor Dumbledore had been very lavish with his praise, and for no reason Minerva had suddenly found herself focusing even more. After a few tries she had turned her toothpick to a complete needle. Even though she had wanted to impress Professor Dumbledore a few minutes back, being the centre of his attention gave her such a giddy feeling that she decided she would not call his attention.
As it were, Ro was having a great trouble with her toothpick. So, she bent over to ask Minerva for her help. She first looked at Minerva's table and then looked at her face aghast. After quite a time she blinked then suddenly shouted "WOW" at the top of her voice. Minerva who had been frantically trying to control her friend put her face into her hands. Professor Dumbledore sensing something was amiss made his way to her desk. He was rewarded with a sight that made him beam with pride. Minerva had turned all her toothpicks into needles, perfect needles with even a place to put the thread through. "Brilliant Miss McGonagall" he chimed in a pleased voice. Minerva looked up to find him smiling at her in pride and happiness. She could not help but beam back at him while turning red for the second time that day."Twenty points to Gryffindor" he declared to the other students while still smiling at her. When he turned away Minerva almost let out a cry of protest grabbing the end of the table at the last moment and scraping her hands in the process. Soon afterwards the class was dismissed with homework of 2 foot long essay on the day's class. Minerva looked at her professor a last time before leaving and was happy to see him smiling at her which she returned with interest.
That night when all of them had retired to the dormitory Minerva gazed at the starry sky outside. She had found the rest of the day after transfiguration class very distracting. Her mind had kept wandering back to the class, how they had stared at the door, how Professor Dumbledore had introduced himself, how he had smiled when Jeff had succeeded and how he had almost burst with pride when he had seen her work. A tiny smile crept up to her lips as she remembered he had kept one of the needles to himself before returning the rest to the work cupboard. She knew he would have reacted the same way if it had been any other Gryffindor doing it at he was proud of his cubs, but she could not help but be glad that it had been her. "Hey Min get into bed, you will catch a cold in that night dress, over that its already late." Minerva looked at poppy and shook her head, "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Min?" she ran her hand absentmindedly through her hair hurting the grazed hand. "Ouch!" the exclamation had escaped her lips before she could stop it. Poppy was on it in a blink "What happened Min show me please" she took her hand in her own and examined it thoroughly. Then she pointed her wand at her hand and murmured something. The graze healed itself at once. It was Minerva who stared at her friend this time. "Wow that was brilliant! Where did you learn it Poppy? You really are incredible!" Poppy blushed at her compliment and replied timidly, "I did not learn it, I invented it. And thanks, but I am only good at these healing charms you know" she had added to hide her embarrassment. "You have a great talent Poppy and that you have invented these spells make it even better. Wow" Poppy smiled good-naturedly at her as the two friends flopped down onto their beds.
The girls soon found out for themselves, life at Hogwarts could never be dull and when it turned even a bit so, a lot more added homework gave them no time to think about it. Transfiguration had soon become the life force of Minerva's life, not only for the subject but also for the teacher. Minerva found to her astonishment, after all the incidents in her first class, she preferred to sit in the front bench in that class. She had soon got used to being not only the best student in the class but also Dumbledore's favorite student as claimed by many. The amount she smiled in each of his classes was far more than she had smiled in her whole life. Though she did not quite comprehend her immense attachment to her transfiguration professor, she knew one thing for certain; he had fast become one of the most important person in her life. She sometimes sat back after class talking to him and telling him about her day, sometimes helping him with his books, it seemed to Minerva, she would do almost anything for him for reasons she could not fathom.
Potions were exactly the opposite. Almost from the end of the first week, Minerva did her best to find herself a seat at the farthest corner in the dungeons and was disappointed to find that the potions master followed her even there. Though her potion making skills were pretty good, she did not understand this unexpected attention from the Professor as despite being ten times as good at transfiguration and Professor Dumbledore being very friendly with her, even he never bestowed her with this much attention. The last straw came when one day while leaving the class with her friends, she heard Professor Slughorn call her."Miss McGonagall, I would be very honored and glad if you would like to attend the small party I am throwing this Saturday at my private quarters with a few more students I have personally invited." He smiled at her as though having given her a great honor at inviting her. Minerva was at a loss as to how to respond. She did not like parties, and over that one with Professor Slughorn seemed even less inviting. She decided that truth was the only thing that could help her. "Professor thank you for your kindness in inviting me", she started tentatively, "but, I do not really like parties and over that I have a lot of homework to finish. If you will please excuse me this time, I am really sorry." she added seeing the confused expression on Professor Slughorn face. Not waiting for his reply or further questioning, she walked out of the dungeons.
Suddenly she found herself looking at a bundle of crimson robes, the likes that professor Dumbledore seemed to prefer. Her heart dropped at the sight; he seemed to be quivering all over and it was all Minerva could to to not rush to him. Instead she stepped cautiously to his side and shook his shoulders gently. "Professor! Professor Dumbledore, it's you isn't it?" she asked gently. When he looked up she was aghast to find tears streaming down his eyes. She opened her mouth and closed it again, the shock of the moment having robbed her of her voice. Suddenly she noticed, his lips were parted in the biggest smile she had seen yet. She let out an audible sigh of relief when realization dawned on her. He had been laughing so hard that he had bent over and there were tears running down in face.
Shaking her head in exasperation at the eccentricities of her favorite professor she cast a silencing charm and disillusioned them both quick as lightning. Then she crouched down beside him and allowed herself a small smile before asking, "Professor what do you think you are doing? If anyone else found you like that they would think you are mad! What makes you laugh so much, that too here where any student could find you?" Professor Dumbledore looked at her his eyes twinkling merrily like two stars but did not answer. Minerva understood in a moment. First casting a calming and sobering charm on her beloved professor she lifted her silencing charm. He chuckled softly before answering, his eyes still twinkling with mirth "Miss McGonagall, I was laughing at the way you snubbed professor Slughorn. That invitation has a must answer of yes, but you unknowingly turned him down. Oh the look on his face!" he exclaimed and seemed ready to go into another fit of laughter though thankfully her charms seemed to hold and he did not. He smiled at her and then turning about took in his surroundings. The potion's class was just over and students were trooping out though none of them notices the duo crouched on the floor.
Understanding the situation as quickly that only he could, he turned to her and smiled. She grinned back cheekily and replied," I could not let them see you in that state. When I saw you, I thought you were crying! I was so shocked and…well…" she stammered not being able to say clearly as to how concerned she had been. Dumbledore though seemed to have no problem in understanding her mind. He smiled at her with affection and said, "There is no need for an explanation Miss McGonagall, I understand and it was really kind of you. Now I think it is better for both of us if we get away from this place before someone stumbles over us, I do not think the charm you cast is strong enough to make us invisible, though it is strong enough to help us hide as you can very well see" he added kindly seeing Minerva's crestfallen face "Disillusionment charms are far above your curriculum Miss McGonagall and you cast it almost to the point of making us invisible, if you had made us completely invisible, it would have been a miracle." Minerva's face lit up at once at his compliment.
She got up quickly and then helped her professor up, who was still quivering with suppressed mirth. Silently the duo made their way to the transfiguration room. "I should apologize to him, you know, but I will do it tomorrow so that the party is over by then. What do you think professor?" she looked up expectantly at Professor Dumbledore. "Well, I could not agree more" he replied smiling, and then started to make his way into the staffroom. "Hey wait!" Minerva called suddenly. "Professor may be you forgot, you are still disillusioned, even though not invisible. What do you think the other professors will say if you walked in like this? Here let me," she raised her wand and removed the charms on each of them then added with a frown before he could turn again "You had better deliver me to the charms classroom. Professor Filtwick won't be very happy if I am late without a reason to give as I can hardly say the truth." She stared at him expectantly. Understanding dawned on him yet again and he smiled good-naturedly. "Of course my dear, I should have offered it myself, after all you are late because of helping an old man like myself" saying so he started walking. Minerva scowled at his back before joining him in his stride. "Rubbish, who are you calling old Professor? Yourself? I hardly think so. I think you are about forty aren't you? How does that make you old?" she retorted without thinking. Professor Dumbledore chuckled and raised his hands in defeat "Point made!" he laughed "I should never have called myself old, my sincere apologies. Strangely though, your guess at my age was pretty close to the mark, unlike other people who prefer referring to me on my late twenties with loads of flattery of course." Minerva snorted "You are pretty young professor though calling you in your late twenties is a bit exaggeration as it is, it's your age that adds to your aura. And my guess is right as I was just pointing out to you what was in front of your nose not trying to flatter you." She looked up at him and added "And oh yes, apology accepted" with a small smile. Dumbledore smiled at her and then said "Ah, I see we have to end our interesting conversation. Your chars classroom has arrived Miss McGonagall", saying he winked at her then turned and left murmuring a quick thanks once again. Minerva shook her head to herself as she made her way to a seat in the class.
That night as Minerva readied herself for bed, she could not help but smile at the incidents of the day. Thinking of it now though she could not understand how she had got the courage to speak to her professor the way she had. It had to be a thing with her being a Gryffindor, too courageous for her own good."Penny for your thoughts!" shouted Ronalda. "Ro! They were worth your penny you know" Minerva retorted having been drawn unkindly from her musing by her too energetic friend. "what were you thinking? We did not even have transfiguration class today. What are you moping about then?" she asked ignoring Minerva's outraged face. "I was just thinking about my day. What makes you think I was moping? And what does transfiguration class got to do with all this?" she asked still glaring at one of her closest friends while the other namely Poppy sat on her bed watching the two with interest.
"Firstly, Miss McGonagall, you were moping, secondly, what is it in your day that you have to think about? We have been working like donkeys. And thirdly, every day we have transfiguration, you spend your bedtime moping, which we guess is due to too much knowledge crammed into your head during the class and lastly do not glare at me" Ronalda replied in one breath. Minerva opened her mouth to protest then closed it. Then the three of them burst out laughing. "Oh, well I was moping due to something that happened today- don't ask me what I am not in a liberty to repeat it." She added the last part quickly knowing her friends curiosity. Shaking their heads at each other, the three girls went off to sleep.
The days at Hogwarts seemed to fly by soon winter holidays had passed which Minerva and thankfully both her friends stayed at the castle. It was the most enjoyable Christmas in her whole life. Minerva had become almost instantly the star pupil of Dumbledore. Even other teachers who got excellent results off her in their own subjects could not stop praising her transfiguration skills. She soon understood that she was a topic of gossip in the staffrooms. This though did not bother her rather made her happier to think that professor Dumbledore had noticed her enough to talk about her to the other teachers. It was soon time to depart for the summer holidays. To Minerva it seemed she was leaving her home. Hogwarts had become closer to her than she could have fathomed. With one last look towards her loving home, she stepped sadly onto the train waiting to take her to a place where she did not belong.